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{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Eastern yellow wagtail
| image = Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis tschutschensis), Kamchatka, Russia 06.jpg
| image_caption = Male, [[Kamchatka]], Russia
| image2 = 2019-12-16 Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis, Prestwick Carr, Northumberland 12.jpg
| image2_caption = Female, [[Northumberland]], UK
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2019 |title=''Motacilla tschutschensis'' |volume=2019 |page=e.T103822471A154735918 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T103822471A154735918.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Motacilla tschutschensis
| authority = [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin, JF]], 1789
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = four; see [[#Taxonomy|text]]
| synonyms =
| range_map = Motacilla tschutschensis map.svg
}}

The '''eastern yellow wagtail''' ('''''Motacilla tschutschensis''''') is a small [[perching bird|passerine]] in the [[wagtail]] [[family (biology)|family]] [[Motacillidae]], which also includes the [[pipit]]s and [[longclaw]]s. It was formerly usually classified as a [[subspecies]] of the [[western yellow wagtail]], but was split from it in 2003 when genetic data showed this classification to be [[paraphyly|paraphyletic]] with respect to [[citrine wagtail]].<ref name="Pavlova">{{cite journal | last=Pavlova | first=Alexandra | last2=Zink | first2=Robert M. | last3=Drovetski | first3=Sergei V. | last4=Red'kin | first4=Yaroslav | last5=Rohwer | first5=Sievert | title=Phylogeographic Patterns in Motacilla Flava and Motacilla Citreola: Species Limits and Population History | journal=The Auk | volume=120 | issue=3 | date=2003-07-01 | issn=1938-4254 | doi=10.1093/auk/120.3.744 | doi-access=free | pages=744–758 | url=https://academic.oup.com/auk/article-pdf/120/3/744/29689268/auk0744.pdf | access-date=2025-02-23}}</ref> It breeds in the eastern [[Palearctic]] and Alaska and migrates to South Asia and Australia.

==Taxonomy==
The eastern yellow wagtail was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1789 by the German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] in his revised and expanded edition of [[Carl Linnaeus]]'s ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He placed it with the wagtails in the [[genus]] ''[[Motacilla]]'' and coined the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Motacilla tschutschensis''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=962 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656457 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=134 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480809 }}</ref> The specific epithet ''tschutschensis'' is from the [[type locality (biology)|locality]], the [[Chukchi Peninsula]] is eastern Russia.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=392 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n392/mode/1up }}</ref> Gmelin based his account on the "Tchutschi wagtail" that had been described by [[John Latham (ornithologist)|John Latham]] in 1783 and by [[Thomas Pennant]] in 1785.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1783 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=2, Part 2 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | page=403 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33730475 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Pennant | first=Thomas | author-link=Thomas Pennant | year=1785 | title=Arctic Zoology | volume=2 | publisher=Printed by Henry Hughs | location=London | page=397 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32122173 }}</ref> In his description Pennant wrote "Taken off the Tchutschi coat, with the Streights of Bering, Lat. 66, north". This is almost certainly the bird captured in 1778 during [[James Cook]]'s [[Third voyage of James Cook|third voyage to the Pacific Ocean]]. The naturalist [[William Wade Ellis]], who accompanied Cook, produced a painting of the specimen and in the caption wrote "caught on board, lat. 66". Ellis's painting is now in the collection of the [[Natural History Museum, London]].<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Stresemann | first=Erwin | author-link=Erwin Stresemann | date=1949 | title=Birds collected in the north Pacific area during Capt. James Cook's last voyage (1778 and 1779) | journal=Ibis | volume=91 | issue=2 | pages=244–255 [251] | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1949.tb02264.x }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last=Lysaght | first=Averil | date=1959 | title=Some eighteenth century bird paintings in the library of Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) | journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series | volume=1 | issue=6 | pages=251–371 [338, No. 91] | doi=10.5962/p.92313 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2239049 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

Four [[subspecies]] are recognised:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2023 | title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits | work=IOC World Bird List Version 13.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/weavers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=21 August 2023 }}</ref>
* ''M. t. plexa'' ([[John Thayer (ornithologist)|Thayer]] & [[Outram Bangs|Bangs]], 1914) – central north Siberia
* ''M. t. tschutschensis'' [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin, JF]], 1789 – south Siberia, north Mongolia, east [[Kazakhstan]] and northwest China to northeast Siberia and northwest North America
* ''M. t. macronyx'' ([[Erwin Stresemann|Stresemann]], 1920) – central south Siberia, northeast Mongolia and northeast China
* ''M. t. taivana'' ([[Robert Swinhoe|Swinhoe]], 1863) – southeast Siberia to [[Sakhalin]] (east Russia), and far north [[Hokkaido]] (north Japan)

Three species of yellow wagtails are recognised in the Palearctic: the eastern yellow wagtail, the [[western yellow wagtail]] (''Motacilla flava'') and the [[citrine wagtail]] (''Motacilla citreola''). Phylogenetic analysis using [[mitochondrial DNA]] sequences produces a topology that conflicts with that obtained from when nuclear sequences are used. The topology from nuclear data more closely corresponds to the traditional [[phenotypic]] taxonomy.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Drovetski | first1=S.V. | last2=Reeves | first2=A.B. | last3=Red'kin | first3=Y.A. | last4=Fadeev | first4=I.V. | last5=Koblik | first5=E.A. | last6=Sotnikov | first6=V.N. | last7=Voelker | first7=G. | date=2018 | title=Multi-locus reassessment of a striking discord between mtDNA gene trees and taxonomy across two congeneric species complexes | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=120 | pages=43–52 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.023| doi-access=free | pmid=29224786 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Harris | first1=R.B. | last2=Alström | first2=P. | last3=Ödeen | first3=A. | last4=Leaché | first4=A.D. | date=2018 | title=Discordance between genomic divergence and phenotypic variation in a rapidly evolving avian genus (''Motacilla'') | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=120 | pages=183–195 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.020| pmid=29246816 | arxiv=1707.03864 }}</ref> The nuclear genetic divergence between the western and eastern yellow wagtails is small and some ornithologists choose to not split the species so that the eastern races become subspecies of ''M. flava''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Hellquist | first1=A. | last2=Friberg | first2=F. | last3=Haldén | first3=P. | last4=Schmidt | first4=P. | last5=Ma | first5=M. | last6=Jun | first6=G. | last7=Olsson | first7=U. | last8=Alström | first8=P. | date=2021 | title=Taxonomic status of grey-headed Yellow Wagtails breeding in western China | journal=Avian Research | volume=12 | issue=1 | pages=53 | doi=10.1186/s40657-021-00289-y | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Svensson">{{cite book | last=Svensson | first=Lars | last2=Mullarney | first2=Killian | last3=Zetterstroem | first3=Dan | title=Collins Bird Guide | publisher=William Collins | date=2023-03-16 | isbn=978-0-00-854746-2 | page=435–436}}</ref>

==Description==
It is a slender 15–16 cm long bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. The breeding adult male is basically [[olive (color)|olive-green]] above and yellow below. In other plumages, particularly first-winter birds but also many females, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on [[subspecies]]. The bill and legs are black; the hind claw is long and not strongly curved, which distinguishes it reliably from [[western yellow wagtail]] which has a shorter, more strongly curved hind claw (though this is often difficult to observe on birds in grass).<ref name="Svensson"/>

The call is a characteristic high-pitched ''zrri'' or ''jeet'', shriller and more rasping than the call of western yellow wagtails.<ref name="Svensson"/><ref name=wiles/>

==Distribution and habitat==
This species breeds in the East [[Palearctic]] and has a foothold in [[North America]] in [[Alaska]]. Most [[bird migration|migrate]] to south Asia and Australia in the winter. Vagrant individuals can occur away the winter quarters at migration time. For example, on [[Palau]] in [[Micronesia]] migrant flocks of this species – apparently of the Bering Sea yellow wagtail, and including many adult males – are regularly seen, while further north on the [[Marianas]], only the occasional stray individuals (usually females or immatures) are encountered.<ref name=wiles>{{Cite journal | last1=Wiles | first1=G. | last2=Worthington | first2=D. | last3=Beck | first3=R. | last4=Pratt | first4=D. | last5=Aguon | first5=C. | last6=Pyle | first6=R. | date=2000 | title=Noteworthy bird records for Micronesia, with a summary of raptor sightings in the Mariana Islands, 1988-1999 | journal=Micronesica | volume=32 | pages=257–284 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253845265}}</ref><ref name=vanderwerf>{{Cite journal | last1=Vanderwerf | first1=E. | last2=Wiles | first2=G. | last3=Marshall | first3=A. | last4=Knecht | first4=M. | date=2006 | title=Observations of migrants and other birds in Palau, April-May 2005, including the first Micronesian record of a Richard's Pipit | journal=Micronesica | volume=39 | pages=11–29 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242079259}}</ref>

Since the advent of easier DNA testing of droppings and clarification of its identification features, it has proved to be a surprisingly frequent late autumn and winter [[vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] in western and northwestern Europe, with ten or more records in some autumns in both Britain and Sweden, and multiple cases of birds overwintering.<ref name="Svensson"/>

==Behaviour==
This [[insectivorous]] [[bird]] inhabits open country near water, such as [[wet meadow]]s. It nests in tussocks, laying 4–8 speckled eggs.

The [[Acanthocephala]]n parasite ''[[Apororhynchus paulonucleatus]]'' was discovered in the colon and cloaca of the eastern yellow wagtail.<ref name="Khokhlova">{{cite journal |last1=Khokhlova |first1=I. G. |last2=Cimbaluk |first2=A. K. |date=1971 |title=Acanthocephala of the genus ''Apororhynchus Shipley'', 1899 and a description of A. paulonucleatus n.sp. |journal=KOLOS |pages=426–431}}</ref>

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Fraker, M. A., & Fraker, R. N. (1980). ''Yellow Wagtail Motacilla-flava East of the Mackenzie Delta Canada''. Canadian Field-Naturalist '''94''' (4): 465–466.
* Hunt, J., & Standring, I. (1995). ''A yellow wagtail Motacilla flava at Lake Mclarty''. Western Australian Naturalist '''20''' (2): 61–64.
* Johnstone, R. E. (1982). ''The Yellow Wagtail Motacilla-Flava in Australia''. Western Australian Naturalist '''15''' (3): 61–66.
* Moffatt, J. D. (1981). ''Yellow Wagtail Motacilla-Flava on Heron Island Queensland Australia with Notes on the Status of Southern Individuals''. ''Emu'' '''81''' (1): 47–48.

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4810698}}

[[Category:Motacilla|eastern yellow wagtail]]
[[Category:Native birds of Alaska]]
[[Category:Birds of North Asia]]
[[Category:Birds of Manchuria]]
[[Category:Wintering birds of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1789|eastern yellow wagtail]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin|eastern yellow wagtail]]

Eastern yellow wagtail - Revision history

imported>Couiros22 at 18:36, 30 June 2025